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Dinner at The Sea Fire Grill (NYC)

The Sea Fire Grill is a seafood restaurant from the same team of the Benjamin Steakhouse. Like the Benjamin Steakhouse, this restaurant has the same high-level service and the food is very solid.

Muted cream and brown tones dominate the dining areas with pops of color from recessed blue bulbs throughout the space. A shimmering blue accent wall gives the impression of being underwater and a large fireplace crackles at the far end of the dining room. The large bar area gives diners a front row seat to watch bartenders build the specialty cocktails and champagne spritzers,

Usually when I think of weekend evenings in Midtown, it tends to be calmer but it’s certainly not the case for The Sea Fire Grill. It was buzzing with diners having convivial conversations, waiters briskly walking around the dining room bringing trays of food or drinks to tables. It feels like a very good neighborhood restaurant to celebrate an occasion and it’s not too far from Grand Central Terminal.

I went there with my family on a bustling Saturday night and we started off with cocktails like the classic Sidecar and a sweet, vodka based passion fruit concoction that my mother loved the Love Potion and wine and the glorious seafood sampler tray. The seafood tray consisted of a nicely steamed and chilled half lobster, four fresh shucked oysters (we requested the West Coast) and clams. All were super fresh and delicious. It just needed a squeeze of fresh lemon.

What would be the best dish of the evening, in my opinion, would be the Madagascar garlic prawns. Each plate comes with a pair of huge (about the diameter of tea saucers, if its tails weren’t curled up) prawns. It could almost be called mini lobsters since its flesh is as firm as a lobster. When you crack open the head and suck its eggs, it tasted like a super concentrated shrimp flavor (by ten fold) and has the texture of a perfect salted egg yolk.

For us ladies, we stuck with seafood. I had an incredibly silky, moist whole roast branzino with a bright, refreshing salad. My mother opted for the evening’s special of steamed lobster with Romanesco and vegetables. Both were delicious in its own right and all the components were cooked and seasoned perfectly.

The men of the family, opted for the sizable 36-ounce porterhouse steak and it’s cooked to the requested medium-rare. The beef is tender, juicy and it had a nice smoky, charred flavor from the grill. They couldn’t be happier.

We were full but wanted to finish the meal with a sweet note and opted for the tiramisu. The flavors of the tiramisu were there (espresso and eggy ladyfingers) but the textures were a little off.

We enjoyed everything at The Sea Fire Grill. The cocktails were strong and tasty. The savory food was absolutely delicious. Service was great – attentive and friendly. I would come back I’m craving seafood in an elegant setting.

To view more photos of this visit, please view the photo set or the gallery below: